


Depths of Kindness

by DarthAnimus



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 08:04:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12317082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthAnimus/pseuds/DarthAnimus
Summary: The story of how Zelos learns to be a bit more vulnerable and open.





	Depths of Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> Tales of Symphonia Week: Home

Zelos wasn't a kind person. Any unbiased person would say so. The hordes of adoring fans would claim different, singing Zelos' praises to anyone who'd hear, but that was a surface assessment gathered from good manners and pure charm.

Zelos knew what he was, how he was and, most importantly, _why_ he was. Zelos knew he could be unkind, was that way more often than not, and he thought he had the right to it. After everything he'd been through since forever, he didn't think he could be any different, even if he cared to try.

Kindness is meaningless when it isn't accepted. Zelos' father had been absent, his mother had hated his very existence and his sister was rightfully ticked off at him at all times. When his nearest and dearest were so unreceptive, Zelos learned at a young age to not offer meaningless kindness around carelessly.

People would say that opening up your home to your estranged sister was a kind thing to do, Zelos certainly had been told so countless times by the fair ladies he entertained. Zelos has his selfish reasons for it, however. The large house had rarely felt very homely, which was why Zelos enjoyed going out so much. Even Seles mumbling to herself around Zelos, the words uncomplimentary things no doubt, was better than the silence.

It wasn't kindness that Zelos invited his sister to live with him. He just couldn't bear to be alone any longer. If anything, Seles accepting and moving over to live with a brother she often badmouthed was a far kinder thing to do.

Zelos was much better at accepting kindness than granting it, so he'd been at his most charming ever since Seles had moved in. After all, people accepted charm from him with such ease, so maybe he could work his way up to simple kindness with Seles as long as he opened with that.

Zelos liked to think they'd come a long way since then. They dined together, they read together in the sitting room and even conversed over shared tastes in literature. Although Seles liked to mock Zelos over his preference for the romance genre, Zelos could tell it was more entertained banter than genuinely spiteful.

Banter was easy, so Zelos would return the jibes about Seles' own leanings towards books with roguish scoundrels as the main lead. Zelos liked to think he was being charming when he did so, as it often brought a laugh or two out of Seles, who really did look much better when she was outwardly happy.

Being charming got Zelos much farther in life than being kind ever could. In fact, kindness hadn't even been something Zelos took into a account before his current situation in life. Then, of course, he'd met Lloyd.

Lloyd had that way about him, where he'd make the people he met question everything they thought they knew about themselves and others. Zelos especially had noticed his perceptions altering through meeting someone so seemingly simple.

Picking a side had never before been harder for Zelos than when he had to consider Lloyd as well. Then came wondering what he liked, unused to considering a man attractive before he'd laughed together with Lloyd. Sometimes he even found an endearment on his lips, calling Lloyd "hunny" instead of the less-committed "bud".

Two years down the line, after overcoming the conflict inside himself, after starting to mend fences with Seles and after giving Lloyd an open invitation into his home, Zelos wondered just what he'd been so afraid of. It couldn't get much more committed than this, waiting for his hunny-bud to come back home and make the house truly feel like a home again. Lloyd was excellent at bridging the gap that still remained between Zelos and Seles, either not noticing or not caring about any tension between the siblings.

The Wilder siblings were so synchronized in welcoming Lloyd back home that they could give the Sages a run for their money. They both missed the remaining member of the household, so they took turns keeping a watch in one of the windows. This time it was Seles who spotted the familiar red form approaching the front door, alerting Zelos so that the two could greet Lloyd together in the doorway.

Something warm buzzed in Zelos' chest when he saw the delighted smile come to Lloyd's face upon finding them both waiting for him. The brunet opened his arms readily and the duo of redheads wasted no moment in accepting the gesture, hugging the sun-warm body close. Seles pressed her head against Lloyd's shoulder but Zelos found himself unable to look at anything but Lloyd's eyes and the way the skin around them crinkled with how widely he was smiling.

Zelos practically burned when he realized that Seles turned her head, pointedly averting her eyes, just as the thought of kissing Lloyd passed Zelos' mind. Not about to let that bit of kindness go unaccepted, Zelos took advantage and planted a soft kiss on Lloyd's lips.

"Welcome home, hunny," Zelos said and was delighted to hear Lloyd laugh again as he greeted Zelos back, giving him a kiss in return.

"Great, let's eat", Seles piped in, squirming out of the tangle of arms to head to the dining room. "Sebastian made a bunch of food since he knew you'd be coming back today."

The mention of food had Lloyd breaking the sweet embrace with ease that would have been offensive if Zelos hadn't gotten used to being second best beside a fulfilling meal. He watched his hunny-bud walk alongside his sister as he asked her about what dishes would be in store, and the warmth inside burst out.

"I love you guys," he said, for once without censure.

Two pairs of eyes turned to him, set in equally flushed faces. Seles covered her face with her hands, mumbling to herself, while Lloyd grinned widely.

"We love you too, Zelos," Lloyd said with conviction. Seles voiced no protest, neither to Lloyd speaking for her nor to his claim, and Zelos smirked.

"You two are so delightfully sappy," he crooned as he walked over to throw an arm around each of his most important people's shoulders.

"Y-you're the one who said it first!" Seles sputtered, only to be drowned out by Lloyd once again bursting into laughter, which Zelos was glad to join in on.

Seles tried to look serious, but couldn't stop the helpless giggles that escaped the moment the trio passed through the doors to the dining room.

Sebastian, already done setting the table, looked way too pleased about the situation, but Zelos couldn't pretend not to understand, or even feel the same. This large house, despite its history, always felt homey when they were all together, because they worked together to make it so.


End file.
